White teen in Chinese prom dress triggers cultural appropriation row

A Utah teen who wore a traditional Chinese dress to senior prom has been lambasted online for what some see as cultural appropriation and casual racism.

WOODS CROSS, UTAH — The pitchforks are are it again on social media, this time over a Utah teen's choice of prom dress.

When Keziah Daum tweeted photos of her in a red and gold cheongsam, she didn't realize it was going to blow up the internet.

The 18-year-old told Insider she spotted the beautiful dress at a thrift store and decided to wear it to senior prom.

Over the next week, the teen's tweet went viral, but for all the wrong reasons.

Commenters criticized her for wearing the dress when she wasn't even remotely Asian, and didn't know its history or significance, basically accusing her of cultural appropriation.

Others weren't bothered by the dress, but did find certain poses made by the teen and her friends to be inappropriate.

Daum has since responded to her haters, denying any wrongdoing and claiming the poses meant something else entirely. She defended the photos as her show of love and appreciation for Chinese culture and says she won't be taking them down.

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